Oncology Fellows' Career Plans, Expectations, and Well-Being: Do Fellows Know What They Are Getting Into?

To evaluate the career plans, professional expectations, and well-being of oncology fellows compared with actual experiences of practicing oncologists

Effectiveness and safety of post-induction phase bevacizumab treatment for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: results from the ARIES observational cohort study

Data from randomized, controlled trials suggest that post-induction phase (IP) treatment with bevacizumab may benefit patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Real-world clinical practice, however, can involve variable use and patterns of treatment in broader patient populations. To assess the effect of bevacizumab on post-IP overall survival (OS) following IP chemotherapy + bevacizumab, analyses were conducted in patients enrolled in the Avastin(®) Registry--Investigation of Effectiveness and Safety (ARIES) observational cohort study (OCS) who received post-IP bevacizumab. ARIES was a large, prospective OCS of patients who received chemotherapy in combination with bevacizumab for the first-line treatment of NSCLC. This unplanned, post hoc analysis included patients who received chemotherapy and bevacizumab and who did not have progressive disease through the completion of IP treatment. A dichotomous analysis compared outcomes in patients who did and did not receive bevacizumab before a landmark date of day 30 post IP. A cumulative exposure analysis used a time-dependent Cox regression model to assess the effect of cumulative post-IP bevacizumab exposure on post-IP OS. In the dichotomous analysis, the duration of post-IP OS was significantly longer in patients who received post-IP bevacizumab; median post-IP OS was 15.6 vs. 11.3 months, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.80; 95 % confidence interval 0.71-0.91; P < 0.001). The cumulative exposure analysis observed that each additional cycle of cumulative bevacizumab exposure decreased the HR for post-IP OS by 2.7 %, on average. In conclusion, post-IP bevacizumab exposure was associated with improved post-IP OS in patients with advanced NSCLC who were enrolled in the ARIES OCS

Safety and Effectiveness of Bevacizumab-Containing Treatment for Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Final Results of the ARIES Observational Cohort Study

Bevacizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel. ARIES (Avastin Regimens: Investigation of Effectiveness and Safety), a prospective observational cohort study, evaluated outcomes in a large, community-based population of patients with first-line NSCLC. From 2006 to 2009, ARIES enrolled patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC who were eligible for bevacizumab, excluding those with predominantly squamous histology. Patients were required to provide informed consent and to have initiated bevacizumab with chemotherapy within 4 months before enrollment. There were no protocol-defined treatments or assessments. The dosing of bevacizumab and chemotherapy, and the choice of chemotherapy regimen, was at the discretion of the treating physician. ARIES enrolled 1967 patients with first-line NSCLC. At study closure, median follow-up was 12.5 months (range, 0.2–65.5). Median age was 65 years (range, 31–93), and 252 patients (12.8%) identified as never smokers. Median progression-free survival was 6.6 months (95% confidence interval, 6.3–6.9), and median overall survival was 13.0 months (95% confidence interval, 12.2–13.8) with first-line bevacizumab plus chemotherapy. Incidences of bevacizumab-associated adverse events (19.7% overall) were consistent with those in randomized controlled trials of bevacizumab in NSCLC. Results from ARIES demonstrate similar outcomes to randomized controlled trials of bevacizumab when added to standard chemotherapy in a real-world patient population with advanced NSCLC